The prosecution in the ongoing trial for the murder of Dr Narendra Dabholkar informed the court on 13 September that their case had reached its conclusion. The veteran rationalist was killed on 20 August 2013, and the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) presented its final report on the case in a special court in Pune.
The agency also advocated for the release of the three accused, Amol Kale, Rakesh Bangera and Amit Digwekar in the absence of any “prosecutable evidence” against them. The statements would now be recorded by the court during the subsequent hearing of the case. CBI dropped the names of five accused from the case, the other two being Manish Nagori and Vikas Khandelwal, who are already out on bail.
The trial court of Additional Sessions Judge P. P. Jadhav ended the cross-examination of the final prosecution witness in the case on 5 September. He was the former Superintendent of Police of the CBI S R Singh who served as an investigating officer. They were taken into custody by the agency in September 2018 and a Pune court issued them default bail in December 2018.
Sanjeev Punalekar, Vikram Bhave, Virendra Sinh Tawde, Sachin Andure, and Sharad Kalaskar were the five defendants included in the CBI’s chargesheet. Public prosecutor Prakash Suryawanshi stated, “In the final report, we mentioned that we have not filed a chargesheet against (the other five) accused Manish Nagori, Vikas Khandelwal, Amol Kale, Rajesh Bangera and Amit Degvekar as there was no prosecutable evidence against them,” in the court on 14 September.
He further added, “Nagori and Khandelwal got the default bail as no one identified them during the test identification parade and no chargesheet was filed against them. Besides, the CBI did not file a chargesheet against Kale, Bangera and Degvekar and in the final report, we mentioned that no chargesheet was filed against these three accused as there was no evidence found against them.”
The court was requested in the final report which was submitted by CBI deputy superintendent of police Vikas Kumar Meena and countersigned by deputy inspector general of police Sadanand Date to take the same into account and permit the agency to wrap up additional probe into the matter.
According to the document, the CBI would conduct a further investigation with the court’s approval if fresh evidence emerged. It added that the agency was attempting to track down Sarang Akolkar and Vinay Pawar who were both missing and first listed as the shooters in order to examine them to uncover the greater conspiracy behind the occurrence.
Furthermore, on behalf of the CBI, special public prosecutor Prakash Suryavanshi submitted a pursis (written statement) informing the court that the evidence against “key conspirator” Virendrasinh Tawde, alleged shooters Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar and two others who were put on trial in the case had been closed. The defence counsel was directed by the court to submit their written response to the final report by 18 September when the case is scheduled to be heard again.
The investigation by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squads (ATS) into the Nalasopara guns haul case and the Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) probe into the murder of Bengaluru journalist Gauri Lankesh on 5 September 2017, brought attention to the participation of Amol Kale, Rakesh Bangera and Amit Digwekar in the case.
They were apprehended by the CBI in September 2018, but on 14 December of that year, a Pune court granted them default bail due to the agency’s failure to file a chargesheet against them within 90 days of their confinement and asked for another 90-day extension for doing it under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act which was invoked in the case.
The three are also charged as culprits in the case along with others. Amol Kale and Amit Digwekar have also been linked with the killing of seasoned Communist leader Govind Pansare on 20 February 2015 in Kolhapur. The trio is currently being held at a jail in Bengaluru.
The final report provided background information and specifics about the Dabholkar murder case as well as information about the CBI, state anti-terrorism unit and Pune police investigations. It read that the crime scene detailed by Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar had been recreated by the agency.
The part played by Amol Kale had been mentioned in the supplemental chargesheet submitted against the duo. However, the research noted that no independent witness came forward to support the statements made by the pair concerning him. The next hearing of the case is set for 18 September.
Following the other side’s response, the process to record the accused’s remarks in accordance with the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) 313(C) would get underway. The court is going to query the defence whether it intends to call any witnesses during the trial after their testimonies.
The anti-superstition activist was shot dead by two bike-borne assailants on the V R Shinde bridge in Pune at 7:15 a.m. on 20 August around 10 years ago while he was on a morning walk on the Vitthal Ramji Shinde bridge near Omkareshwar temple.
An ear, nose and tongue (ENT) surgeon, Dr. Virendrasinh Tawade along with two alleged attackers named Sachin Andure and Sharad Kalaskar were charged in September 2016 and February 2019, respectively.
Mumbai-based attorney Sanjeev Punalekar and his assistant Vikram Bhave were charge-sheeted in November 2019. All of the accused are at present standing trial for the crime. Sanatan Sanstha reportedly has ties to all of them. Five individuals were charged by a Pune special court on 15 September 2021 which kicked off the proceedings.
